The Middle Man Er, I mean, the Middle GIRL
by CrazyCabernet
Summary: Lenore Lennox's life is just plain weird. It was weird last year, it's weird this year, and it'll probably be weird next year. The thing is, it just got even weirder. A camp, or an institute? Mostly normal looking kids, or the ones with the freaky tats? Demigods, or Nephilim? Decisions, decisions, so many decisions to make. Percabeth & JacexClary
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This came about as a result of it suddenly hitting me yesterday that both these series take place in NYC, and they both center around a group of kids with crazy abilities and weapons and stuff that go around kicking the asses of all sorts of insane creatures and just totally pwning in general, and I thought, "EXTREME CROSSOVER POTENTIAL!" **

**And, thus, Tessa Lennox and this X-over were both born. **

**I OWN NOTHING (except Tessa) AND DENY EVERYTHING! XD**

**-Maggie**

**UPDATE FROM THE NOT-SO-DISTANT FUTURE: Okay, when I created this girl, I had NO CLUE that there was already a character in the Infernal Devices books named Tessa, and once I found out, I was like, "Well...this is slightly awkward." SO, I changed her name to Lenore, and I didn't just pick that because of Poe, even though I am a HUGE fan of his work. I chose it because of a meaning it has, which will be explained eventually in some later chapter. Just wanted to let everyone know what's going on and how it came about! PX**

* * *

Lenore Lennox's life had always been weird. She was dyslexic, had ADHD, and was constantly seeing weird things in her peripheral vision that were always gone when she turned to look at them directly, almost like there were halfway real shadow creatures or something that were there, but also weren't at the same time. Sometimes, she would have these weird blackout things, where it was as if she blinked, and suddenly, something had happened without her knowing it, almost like puzzle pieces of the universe falling into oblivion and leaving her staring in confusion at the blank spaces left behind.

But when she was singing or listening to her iPod, or, preferrably, singing along to her music? It was like becoming a completely different person, because when she had her music, no matter how brief the time she was getting with it, she was actually _good _at something for once. And she loved the way it felt. She cherished that feeling and the times when she was given the chance to feel it by immersing herself completely in the tune and letting the music surround and engulf and feeling it fill everything inside her completetly, right down to the marrow in her bones.

Except not everyone appreciated music like she did, and therefore some of them didn't appreciate her talent for it, and a handful of them even said it was stupid and had even asked her why she would even bother wasting her time with something so useless, and those people really irked her, and she would've jumped at the chance to punch a few of them in the face without any consequences, and there were also a couple very specific ones that she wouldn't have minded too much getting to knock some of their teeth out, or maybe give them a black eye, or, if she was really lucky, both.

Matthew was one of those very specific ones. And she wanted to punch him now more than she ever had before. Then it occured to her that maybe, since they weren't in school or anything, she could get away with at least slapping him or stomping on his foot or something. So that's exactly what she did; she picked up her one-inch binder with pictures of her favorite singers, celebrities, characters, and so forth on the front that had a piece of cardstock duct tape'd to the front with the words "TOUCH AND DIE" scrawled across it in thick black Sharpie, brought her foot down as hard as she could onto Matthew's, then grabbed her canvas messenger bag, slung it across her body, and put the binder into it as she calmly walked away and left Central Park.

And then nearly fell down the stairs leading down to the subway and cracked her skull open and maybe even broken her spine and died when four kids that looked about her own age pushed her and several other people out of their way as they went racing down into the subway. After they had passed her, Lenore saw one of the boys point in the same general direction of the tracks and heard him say, "Nico and Piper, you guys cover that end, Annabeth and I will take the other. C'mon, guys, we gotta move fast if we're gonna stop this psycho bitch, let's go!"

Lenore moved to stand with her back against the wall opposite the tracks, leaning against the graffiti-covered surface casually with one foot against it as she watched everything go down, trying to keep her face as neutral and indifferent as possible, doing her best to look as if she wasn't paying any attention to what was happening. In the next few moments, a girl with flaming hair, white skin, red eyes, fangs, a prosthetic leg made of what appeared to be bronze, and a donkey leg came around a corner making hissing and spitting noises that put Lenore under the impression that she was _not _too happy about something right then.

Right as one of the girls jumped the human-donkey-robot-cyborg-whatever-she-was from behind and drove a bronze-bladed dagger up to the hilt in her/its back, anotherquartet came from around the same corner the animal/human/cyborg had, these ones with their arms covered in really bizarre tattoos, three with blades that glowed white, and the fourth with a silver-gold whip held so tightly in one hand that her knuckles were on the verge of turning white. The group with the tattoos was dressed in strange black clothing, unlike the other group, who were dressed no differently than any other random teenager you might see on the street every day.

The blonde guy who was in the lead of the group Lenore was now mentally referring to as "Those Kids with the Weird Tats" went over to the guy who seemed to be the leader of what she was calling "Those Other Kids" and brought his hand down on the other guy's shoulder. He muttered something that Tessa couldn't quite hear very clearly, but that sounded suspiciously like, "That was _our_ kill, asshole."

Finally, Lenore couldn't keep her curiosity at bay anymore and went over to them. "Hey, sorry to interrupt," she said, "but what the hell was that thing you just killed?" "She can see past the glamours!" the redhead blurted out in surprise, while at the exact same time, the girl from the other group with short choppy brown hair and the braid hanging on one side of her face with feathers woven into it cried, "She's not affected by the Mist!"

Then, from both of them, "She's one of us!"

Lenore stared at them. "Um...Okay, then," she said finally. The blonde guy and the dark-haired dude that were in Those Kids with the Weird Tats looked at each other. "We need to get her back to the Institute, ASAP," the blonde said. The other one nodded in agreement. "You're right," he said. The girl with stormy grey eyes from Those Other Kids stepped forward. "Whatever this Institute of yours is," she said, "she's not going there. She's coming with us back to our camp, where she _belongs." _The blonde guy frowned. "Alright then," he said. "Clearly, none of us is about to back down on this, so I guess there's only one way to settle it without having to maim, strangle, and kill each other; we let her decide for herself who she'll go with."

And they all turned to look expectantly at Lenore.

She suddenly felt very exposed and vulnerable as she nervously bit her lower lip and sort of shuffled her feet around, scuffing the toe of her already-scuffed-and-dirty combat boot against the ground and rubbing the back of her neck. "Well," she began slowly, "no offense or anything, but to tell the truth, when I hear someone say the word institute, I think of the mental kind. You know, as in like the wacky shack, the nuthouse, or whatever you wanna call it. Asylums, y'know? Pennhurst type stuff. So, sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to go with the camp. That sounds a lot more fun, not to mention, y'know, sane. Sorry."

The two guys in streetclothes high-fived with each other, then the one without the metal skull on his finger turned and offered his hand. "Greetings from Camp Half-Blood!" he said. "I'm Percy Jackson, that's my girlfriend Annabeth Chase, our friend Piper McLean, and my cousin Nico di Angelo." Tessa took the offered hand and shook it. "Eleanore Lennox, but I go by Lenore" she said. "So what's this Camp Half-Blood place?"

"We prefer to _show_ the noobs rather than just tell 'em," Nico said, drawing his black sword and placing the tip of it against the ground. He shook some hair out of his eyes as he grinned lopsidedly. "Everybody put a hand on top of the hilt," he said. "It's shadow travelin' time, bitches." Percy's hand went on first, then Annabeth's on his, followed by Piper, and finally, Lenore, who hesitated to add hers until Annabeth gave her a small grin and nod of encouragement.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Nico said, "this is your captain speaking. Please keep all hands, feet, tentacles, claws, and/or any other appendages inside the vehicle at all times, puke over the side if you feel the need to do so at any point, hold on tight, and above all, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."

And then, at the last possible moment, the other group of teens put _their _hands on the sword and were taken along for that ride.

* * *

**AN: Obviously, the Shadowhunters saw some kind of demon, not an _empousa, _but don't ask what kind, because I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, which I kind of did while writing this, to tell the truth. :/**

**-Maggie**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I had fun writing these first few paragraphs with Jace and Percy. I just thought it would be fun to write something where the two "alpha males," so to speak, of each respective group were sort of at odds with each other, kind of like how Percy and Jason are sometimes, and I was right. It WAS fun. For me. I hope you guys like it, too. :)**

**I OWN NOTHING BUT LENORE (formerly Tessa) AND DENY EVERYTHING! XD**

**-Maggie**

* * *

Nine teenagers ended up on a beach. One alpha male went after the other alpha male. All hell broke loose. "You no good little barnacle!" Percy shouted, grabbing the front of the blonde guy's shirt and throwing him down onto the sand before pulling a pen out of his pocket and uncapping it, which turned it into the bronze sword Lenore had seen him fighting the donkey-cyborg with down in the subway. He aimed it at the other guy, pointing the tip of it at the blonde's chest. The redhead cried out at this, but Annabeth grabbed her and held her back.

"You don't belong here," Percy said. "This is safe ground for demigods, Rachel is the only mortal that's supposed to be inside camp borders, and that's because she's the Oracle, otherwise it'd be off-limits to her, too. Our borders were made specifically to protect us from monsters and traitorous demigods and people like you, whatever kind of people you are. How dare you leech yourselves onto us like that to get across those borders, you-"

"Big brother!" someone yelled. Lenore turned and saw a-was she imagining things?-cyclops dressed in torn jeans and a white T-shirt beneath an unbuttoned flannel shirt running towards them. "Not now, big guy, I'm a little busy," Percy called, never taking his eyes off the blonde. "Percy!" another voice yelled. "What in the name of Olympus is going on here?!"

Percy immediately recapped his pen-sword and shoved it back into his pocket, backing away and going to Annabeth's side as she let go of the redhead, who hurried to help the blonde up as the two groups separated themselves from each other, leaving Lenore standing off to the side all by herself feeling awkward, out of place, and majorly confused on multiple levels.

And then the half-horse dude with the big wooden staff showed up, and she could've sworn she felt a little bit of pee leak into her undies.

The horse-man stopped several feet away from the eight opposing groups of teens while the cyclops ran over and threw his arms around Percy, who put an arm around his shoulders, gave him a brief smile, and said something in his ear that made his already huge smile get even bigger, which Lenore seriously hadn't thought was even possible.

"Percy," the horse-man said after several moments of just standing there and examaining the scene. "I trust that you will be able to explain to me why it is that I am currently looking at not one, but four Nephilim standing on camp ground."

The tattoo'd kids all started at once when they heard him say the word Nephilim. "You know about Shadowhunters?!" the blonde exclaimed. The horse-man studied him for a moment or two. "Oh yes," he said finally. "I know all about your kind and what you do. In fact, it's really not all that different from what demigods do. And you, Jace...I've heard all about you and Clary and what you two have accomplished, the unique abilities you possess. And..."

His eyes landed on Lenore and his expression shifted to something she thought might've been surprise, but he'd composed himself before she could tell for sure.

"Ah," he said, "I see. Young lady, would you...come with me please? On second thought, I want all of you to start heading up to the Big House right now. Percy and Annabeth can show our newcomers the way, and Piper, Nico, if the two of you would be so kind as to gather the senior counslers of the twelve major cabins, tell them we're having a meeting in the rec room."

"I'm confused," Lenore said finally. "First off, am I imagining things, or is there a cyclops hugging him right now? And second, who are you, and what up with the, uh...Y'know..." The horse-man chuckled. "You have nothing to fear from Tyson, I promise," he said. "He's Percy's younger half-brother, and he looks up to Percy a great deal. He's very friendly and childlike, he wouldn't ever hurt a mortal or demigod. Automatons, yes, monsters, yes, and he's even taken on titans. But mortals, demigods, never. As for me, my name is Chiron. As long as there are heroes to be trained, I will be alive. I trained many of history's greatest heroes, including the famous Hercules. And you, young lady, were fortunate enough to be found and brought here by two of my best students. Now, Piper, Nico, go. Percy, Annabeth, take this young lady and our Nephilim guests up to the Big House, and you might want to check that Ella isn't someplace she'll be distracting to anybody."

Percy looked none too pleased with these instructions, but did as he was told nevertheless, although he and the boy called Jace shot each other nasty looks full of tension and animosity the entire way to the Big House.

* * *

"Well, now that we're all here and settled," Chiron said, "I suppose there's no point in making this stretch out any longer than it must, so I'll get straight to the point of why I've called this unexpected meeting. As you can all see, we have some rather unique guests here with us. They are what are known as Nephilim, or Shadowhunters. Their purpose is, in all honesty, not entirely unlike what you as demigods do. However, where you all hunt and kill monsters, the Nephilim were charged centuries ago by the angel known as Raziel with hunting demons. Beings from other dimensions that come into this one."

"I don't care if they're the reason the stars come out every night," Clarisse said, jaw visibly taut as she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted restlessly in her seat. "Unless and until I have a legit explanation for those freakish tats, which, for the record, look pretty _demonic _if you ask me, I ain't trustin' a single one of 'em. Period."

Jace went to stand at the table. "They're not tattoos," he said, "they're runes. Marks of the Angel that he gave to the first generation of Shadowhunters. They set us apart from regular humans, or, as we call them, mundanes, or mundies. If a mundie is Marked, it can drive them insane and they can become what's called a Foresaken. Vampires, faeries, werewolves, witches and warlocks, beings that we refer to as Downworlders, would be killed on contact if they were to be Marked. Only Nephilim can wear them. They help us hunt down and kill demons. Nobody can create new ones, the one exception to that being Clary."

"Okay," Lenore cut in, "quick question; when's the part where somebody explains to me what exactly I'm doing here? Because I'm not like any of you. I don't hunt or kill demons, I don't have any of those Mark things, and I don't do...whatever it is that the rest of you do. What _do _you other guys do, anyway, and for that matter, _what _are you?"

"Demigods," Percy said. "Half-mortal, half-god. As in the Greek gods up on Mount Olympus. My father is Posiedon, one of Zeus' brothers, god of the sea, creator of horses, and Earth-shaker. My powers include, but are not limited to hydrokinesis, hydrogenesis, breathing underwater, coming out of the water completely dry unless I want to get wet, water propulsion, and telepathic communication with all creatures that fall into the equine category, as well as pretty much every type of aquatic creature out there, of both the salt and freshwater varieties, and ones that you've only ever heard of in ancient Greek mythology."

Alec stared at him for several moments. "Dude," he said finally, "you can talk to _fish?" _"Wow, Alec," Clary said as she and Isabelle turned to look at him in disbelief. "He listed all kinds of other cool stuff, and _that's_ the only thing you took away from that? Seriously, man?"

"We've dealt with thicker," Percy and Annabeth said simultaniously. Travis and Connor looked at each other and began to snicker. "Oh, shut it, you two," Katie said. "Like we all haven't heard them do that a billion times. And besides, you guys do it way more often than they do, so you have absolutely no room to talk." "Hear hear," Will declared, raising his fist into the air while the other arm stayed across his chest.

There was a beat or two of silence. "Anyway," Annabeth said finally. "Lenore, you're here because you saw through the Mist down in the subway. The Mist, by the way, is what keeps things hidden from mortals. Things like the monsters we fight and things that are just...not part of their world, but part of ours. The only explanation for anyone being able to see through that is for them to be a part of the world that the Mist is there to hide. Percy's mom is mortal, and she can see through it, and the same is true for the girl who is the current host for the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi, but Sally and Rachel are the only two mortals that any of us know of who can see through it. Which means that either you're another exception, which is_ highly_ unlikely, or you're a demigod, and therefore a part of the world hidden by the Mist. So now, there's something very important we have to do, and that's figure out who your godly parent is."

Will leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table. "Do you have any special talents?" he asked. "Anything that you love to do, that you're really good at, that you excel at, anything at all? Leo there, for example, is the senior counselor for the Hephestaus cabin. Those kids are, shall we say, the inventors. Their father is the god of forge and fire, so they make and repair weapons, build and perform maitenance on automatons, that sort of thing."

"And I can do this!" Leo announced enthusiastically, holding his hand up so everyone could see it spontaneously light on fire. After the shock had worn off for Tessa and the Nephilim and Leo's hand was no longer burning and filling the room with the scent of smoke, they continued down the previous line of conversation. "And then there's me and the other kids in Athena cabin," Annabeth said.

"Our mother is the goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, useful arts, and battle strategy. We're good at things like weaving, fighting, and battle plnning. I, personally, am also pretty good at things involving architecture, not to brag." Percy laughed lightly as he put an arm on the back of her chair and gently rubbed her shoulder. "You have more than earned the right to brag, Wise Girl," he said. "You rebuilt Olympus after the Second Titan War. That's pretty damn impressive and more than the perfect excuse to brag. So brag all you want, nobody's going to care, I promise."

"I'm...at home with music," Lenore said. "I read music better than I read words, I taught myself how to play piano, my iPod is my way of escape, and I've been told I've got a beautiful singing voice." She shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "I mean, I don't sing for others, I sing along to my iPod, I sing because it's how I express myself, I sing just for myself, so I've never really cared if anyone thought I was good or not."

Heads turned all around the table as the senior counselors looked at each other and murmured among themselves, exchanging thoughts on the subject. Will put his hands flat on the table and rose about halfway out of his seat. "Sounds like one of ours," he said. Straightening himself out completely, he turned to Tessa and said, "How good are you at archery?"

The question took her by surprise and she blinked before answering. "No idea," she replied. "I've never tried my hand at it. Mind if I ask why you wanna know?" "Because it sounds to me like you belong in Apollo cabin. He's the god of, among other things, music. He and his twin sister Artemis are the ones who drive the sun and moon across the sky, respectively. Apollo drives the sun chariot every day, then Artemis takes over with the moon at night. They're both very skilled archers, but Artemis is a maiden goddess, so she doesn't have any children. Apollo, on the other hand, does, myself included. We are the best archers in camp, although I do admit that Annabeth here is also quite skilled in that area. What we need to do now is either confirm or deny my theory, get Apollo or someone else to claim you, and to do that, we need to get a bow and arrow in your hands and have you shoot some stuff. Up for the challenge, noob?"

Lenore stood up straight and held her head high, chest out. "I'm always up for anything," she said. Will nodded. "Then leave your crap here for now and follow me." "Before we do this, though?" Lenore said. Will turned back around and raised an eyebrow. Lenore went up to him and looked him straight in the eyes, hands on her hips. "Call me a noob again," she said, "and see what happens to ya."

And then she was out the door.

There was a beat of silence while everyone stared after her until Isabelle spoke.

"I _like_ that girl."

* * *

**AN: That last moment there struck me as something that Izzy would view as a display of spunk or something, and therefore make her like Lenore. ANYWAY, I actually got onto the Wikis for both of these series while working on this chapter so that I would be able to have info on the Marks and stuff be as accurate as possible without having to get out all the books and go back through everything. With the PJO stuff, it was mostly to look at the names and stuff for specific abilites of specific demigods, and also because it's been awhile since I read any of the books in the original series, so I couldn't remember the names of all the senior counselors for the main twelve cabins, and I needed a refresher, so I had to get on there and look at some names and positions and stuff. *blushes a little bit***

**ANYWAY, I gotta wrap this up and start getting ready for bed, cuz I was up kinda late last night and my mom let me sleep in a little this morning so I wouldn't be totally exhausted when I got to school, and she wants me in bed a little early tonight, so I'm gonna go ahead and end this, and I'll be starting on the next one tomorrow, so SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE! XD**

**-Maggie**


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